Media Releases and Events
GIWA Crop Report - December 2020
The 2020 Season: The season that keeps on giving. Read the latest GIWA Crop Report here (http://..
2021 GRDC Grains Research Update
REGISTRATIONS NOW OPEN Register online to attend the 2021 GRDC Grains Research Update in Per..
WA Noodle Wheat Industry feedback
View the latest\ quality feedback from the recent annual spring round of noodle wheat consultations ..
GIWA Annual Report available online
To view and download the GIWA Annual Report, please visit http://www.giwa.org.au/annual-report (..
Chemical Residues
2020 Australian Grain Industry Post Harvest Chemical Usage Outturn Tolerances
The National Working Party for Grain Protection is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and hosted by Grain Trade Australia.
The annually updated list of Australian Grain Industry Post Harvest Chemical Usage Outturn Tolerances 2020 can be found on the Grain Trade Australia website or in pdf format below.
Aust Grains Industry Post Harvest Chemical Usage Outturn Tolerances 2020_21 v20072020 (779 KB)
National Regulation of Agricultural Chemicals and Food Safety: Australia’s Competitive Advantage
Australia has a global reputation as a food producing and trading nation with one of the highest standards of biosecurity and food safety in the world. This competitive advantage is something the Australian grain industry protects and invests in heavily.
The national government regulator for agricultural chemicals, pesticides and veterinary medicines is the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medical Association (APVMA).
The national government regulator (Australia and New Zealand) for food safety including chemicals in food is Food Standards Australia New Zealand or FSANZ. FSANZ regularly conducts and publishes a survey of food safety called the Australian Total Diet Study (25th).
The Australian grain industry supports national regulations and international best agricultural practice in the management of biosecurity and chemicals in agricultural and food supply chains. GIWA supports the national industry-endorsed biosecurity, fertilizer, chemical residue, storage and handling, occupational health and safety management practices in the code of practice Growing Australian Grain 2018 (attached) and the Grain Trade Australia Industry Code of Practice and Technical Guidelines http://graintrade.org.au/grain-industry-code-practice. Growing Australian Grain March 2018 (3235 KB)
GTA Australian Grain Industry Code of Practice_May2018 (842 KB)
Growers and the Australian federal government also co-fund (that’s right - to be responsible users of agricultural chemicals, growers levy themselves then co-fund) the annual and globally regarded testing survey of chemicals in the Australian grain and horticultural supply chains called the National Residue Survey (NRS) http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/food/nrs. The NRS is very active in Western Australia both in testing grain and in industry engagement activities, and works side by side with the state Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the national Department of Agriculture, the APVMA, FSANZ and industry’s National Working Party for Grain Protection NWPGP.
How the Australian Grain Industry manages chemical residues
The grain industry works through the GRDC funded National Working Party for Grain Protection NWPGP http://www.graintrade.org.au/nwpgp to monitor global chemical residue regulation for grains, communicate the regulation of chemicals in the Australian grain supply chains, and understand which export grain markets have which tolerances for which chemicals (they are not all the same as Australia’s chemical regulations). A short version of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) which are set by the APVMA for Australian grain commodities against a comparison of the MRLs of our major export grain markets can be found in the pdf below.
NWPGP Australian Grain Export Market MRLs Oct 2020 (1051 KB)
To help maintain Western Australia’s reputation for supplying clean and safe grain, CBH tests for chemical residues during and after harvest. A link to the CBH approach to chemical residue management, including the contaminated loads policy, can be found on the CBH website.
Glyphosate’s role in the Australian grain industry
In Australia glyphosate is regulated by the APVMA https://apvma.gov.au/node/13891 and has been legal for several decades; the APVMA deems glyphosate safe if used at regulated usage patterns.
Glyphosate is our industry’s most commonly used weed killer; using it means we preserve moisture for crops to grow, do not have to plough the paddocks (no-till or minimum till) or risk losing soil health and top soil nutrients through wind erosion from ploughing. Given that the grain industry is worth over $7 billion to the Western Australian economy each year, and given our climate variability, glyphosate’s role is critical to the long term sustainability of our industry in preserving soil moisture, helping us take care of our soils and minimise weeds like ryegrass, brome grass and radish which contaminate the crop for sale and rob the growing crop of moisture.
Glyphosate is not allowable over all crops and there are a range of other agricultural technologies/practices and chemicals available which can do some of what glyphosate does, but they are not necessarily used in the same way, and they may have different Maximum Residue Limit ratings as set by the regulator the APVMA. For further information please go to the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s GRDC website https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/resources/glyphosate-information or read the GRDC’s most recent information for the stewardship of pre-harvest herbicides.
GRDC_FactSheet_Preharvest Herbicide Use 1710_05[1] (213 KB)
How glyphosate is applied to crops
Minor use permits for agricultural chemicals in crops
GIWA currently holds one minor use permit for an agricultural chemical, for pre-emergent use on oats, valid to 31st March 2022, PER84040 for Trifluralin/Pre-Emergent Treatment in Oats for Suppression/Control of Certain Annual Grasses and Broadleaf Weeds on Oats.
The latest list of Minor Use Permits for all broadacre crops (Pulses, Oilseeds, Cereals, Other Crops, Legumes, Fallow, Grasshoppers and Locusts, Pasture, Bushland, Firebreaks and Rights of Way, Vertebrate Pests) issued by the consultants to the GRDC “Pesticides for Minor Uses in Grain” project can be found below and for further information please contact project consultants Steve Jones smjones@aglignconsulting.com.au or Kevin Bodnaruk kevinakc@bigpond.net.au.
Current Ag Pesticide Minor Use Permits Broad Acre Crops February 2019 (604 KB)
Further information
Simon Little, Bunge Quality Manager simon.little@bunge.com +61 448 444 335
Gerard McMullen, Chair, National Working Party for Grain Protection NWPGP gerardmcmullen@optusnet.com.au + 61 419 156 065
Georgia Megirian, Crop Protection Officer West, Grains Research and Development Corporation Georgia.megirian@grdc.com.au + 61 8 9230 4600 and +61 439 575 900